{"id":618294,"date":"2026-04-20T02:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T02:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618294\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T02:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T02:27:10","slug":"vondrousova-opens-up-about-mental-health-struggles-doping-control-incident-tennis-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618294\/","title":{"rendered":"Vondrousova Opens Up About Mental Health Struggles, Doping Control Incident \u2013 Tennis Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former World No. 6 Marketa Vondrousova issued a public statement on social media on Friday, addressing her current situation, including her mental health and recent events surrounding a doping control incident.<\/p>\n

The Czech said she is working to \u201cslowly find [her] way back, both on and off the court,\u201d while focusing on recovery and managing her physical and mental condition.<\/p>\n

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Vondrousova, who reinjured her left shoulder at last year\u2019s US Open, has played just five singles matches since, losing four. She was part of Team Czechia\u2019s win over Switzerland at BJK Cup this weekend, partnering Tereza Valentova in a loss to Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic.<\/p>\n

She is ranked 46 at the moment.<\/p>\n

According to her statement, medical experts diagnosed Vondrousova with an acute stress reaction and generalized anxiety disorder. She said the diagnoses followed a period marked by injury, ongoing physical and mental pressure, and sleep-related issues.<\/p>\n

At Odds With Doping Protocols, Under Investigation<\/p>\n

Last December Vondrousova took to Twitter to complain about testers who came to her residence outside of her stated hour of availability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it normal for doping officers to sit in our living rooms at night waiting for us to pee?\u201d she wrote on Instagram. \u201cThis is not about avoiding testing \u2013 it\u2019s about respect. Respect for the rules that we follow, and for the personal life that we\u2019re entitled to after a long day of training and competition. Rules should apply to everyone, even to those enforcing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2023 Wimbledon champion faces a potential ban of up to four years after failing to provide a sample during that out-of-competition doping control last December, according to reports<\/a>. Vondrousouva argues that the officer from Germany\u2019s anti-doping agency did not follow standard procedures during the attempted test on December 3. As a result, she refused to let the official into her apartment.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old stated that fear affected her judgment during a recent doping control situation, which she said occurred after she reached a \u201cbreaking point\u201d following months of stress. She also referenced security concerns, noting that an unidentified person rang her door late at night, which contributed to her reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that moment, fear clouded my judgment and I couldn\u2019t process the situation rationally.\u201d Vondrousova said. \u201cAfter what happened to Petra, we don\u2019t take strangers at our door lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that she is continuing efforts to clear her name while taking time to recover.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a long time, I\u2019ve been dealing with injury, constant pressure, and ongoing sleep issues that left me feeling exhausted and fragile,\u201d she said. \u201cIt slowly wore me down more than I probably realized at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn top of that, years of hateful messages and threats have affected how safe I feel in my own space. When someone rang my door late at night without properly identifying themselves or following protocol, I reacted as someone who felt scared. In that moment, it was about feeling safe, not about avoiding anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vondrousova said she plans to step back temporarily in order to focus on her health and well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cTennis has always been my world, but right now I\u2019m also focusing on healing and getting through this in the best way I can,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m still working to clear my name, but at the same time I need to take care of myself. Thank you to my boyfriend, my family, and everyone who has stood by me \u2014 it means more than I can explain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former World No. 6 Marketa Vondrousova issued a public statement on social media on Friday, addressing her current…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-618294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}